Software Forums?

How to use the discussion board. Post usage questions here.
#1
Wiles  
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Has TPT considered adding another main group of forums related to software usage questions?

I am member of the Lacerte Tax User Group on Yahoo. It's OK, I guess, but it is hard to maneuver through and find what you need.

Also, Thomson Reuters just blew up their user group community fka ARNE. The new version is a total disaster. People don't use it anymore except to complain about how much it sucks.

TPT could have "SOFTWARE FORUMS" as a separate group on the Board Index. Then there would be subforums for different software packages that tax pro's use, such as Lacerte, UltraTax, ProSeries, ProSystemFX, ...
 

#2
makbo  
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I'm initially neutral on the idea. One thing to keep in mind is that most of TPT is publicly readable & searchable, while vendor forums tend to be more private. I would not necessarily like for one of my clients to discover that his complicated situation, incurring a hefty prep fee, boils down to whether I figure out the difference between button A and button B in my software.

Software forums could be made private, like the Penalty Free Zone, but then it would be hard for tax pros to discover it on their own.
 

#3
chris  
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We'd have to be convinced the idea would work. If the majority of the vendors do a great job then there's really no compelling reason for us to try it. Also, you need critical mass very quickly for any specialized forum to become viable. Lot's of unanswered questions tend to be like repellent to visitors.

I'm not saying the idea is without merit, just that we'd have to feel like there's a very good probability of it being a success. As of right now I don't have that feeling.

makbo, there may be a way to show the entry point but the actual content is only visible when logged in. I'd have to experiment.
Site admin and software developer for TaxProTalk.com and https://TheSiteFactory.com
 

#4
Frankly  
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The software related posts are found in the Business Operations forum. If the volume of posts became overwhelming and the forum becomes difficult to navigate then a sub forum could be established.
 

#5
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I like the idea. We use ProFx and Proseries in this office. In the last couple of weeks I have searched for ways to avoid doing overrides in both programs. ProFx "Help" is not worthy of the name. When I searched the Proseries forum yesterday I got lots of questions that would be more suited to the Taxation forum here and nothing useful on the issue I was searching. So, from where I sit, there is a gap in the market. (I am a wage slave and have no input on the software the boss buys, BTW.)

The point about critical mass is well made. I would also be concerned about amateur PTIN holders using it as a substitute for understanding how the return should look. For that reason, I would support it being invisible to the Great Unwashed.
 

#6
jon  
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Thomson's treatment of Arne was always a mystery to me. They have the "Ideas" group. but that I think has a separate reason. ARNE was good - it did not have very much of an endorsement for the new accounting software. I was very much disappointed in the ones who were leaving the accounting product some had been extremely helpful. Thompson/Ultra have a good product, but they are very much full of themselves. I remember 5 years ago when attending an Ultra tax seminar and I mentioned ARNE and his comment was really bad. ARNE like all forums had some good and some bad, but combined we had produced more returns and financials than TR's tax entire staff in Michigan... I think TRs support forgets that. Did I get his to be the software section???
 

#7
Wiles  
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One of the former ARNE users set up a new forum for the disenfranchised, similar to the origins of this forum. That forum is: http://easyarne.forumotion.com/. It is generating momentum and has become a hybrid of TR software help and general tax & accounting questions. I hate having to use two separate forums.
 

#8
chris  
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I'm have a hard time seeing how ARNE would work, here. If they are discussing tax issues at the new forum then by default it means they did not want to come here (if they know about TPT). So that leaves me with creating a dedicated "help with software" forum, which will either become "contaminated" with tax discussions, or we will hear crickets there.

Did anyone from the old group even bother to point them here? I'm not a huge fan of those free forum sites; I've seen content get held hostage, or lost, too many times.
Site admin and software developer for TaxProTalk.com and https://TheSiteFactory.com
 

#9
Wiles  
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Hi Chris, I totally understand your point about the software forum getting contaminated with tax discussions. That was happening at the old ARNE site. It also happens at the LTUG (Lacerte Tax User Group) on Yahoo.

This does not necessarily ruin the content of those software forums, but I could see how it would upset the users here.
 


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